Developer: Consoles 'Couldn't Possibly Handle' Star Citizen

I backed this one on Kickstarter knowing that it was stated very early on that it's going to be a high end PC game for PC gamers and the space game Chris Roberts always wanted to make but never could due to technology and publishers.

Look at the opposite that happened to Egosoft with their X Series. Their new one looked like a console port and was essentially a flop right out the door and they still haven't brought it around to be very respected or popular.

Hopefully once this one launches, Elite, and smaller games like Limit Theory can really bring back the interest in the Space Sim and help push even harder for the transition to PC gaming being the primary 'go to' for people who want a gaming system.
 
dandragonrage said:
They should be able to release this game and another full high-quality game or 2 for the money they've raised. Hopefully if they do another game he'll actually try something different.
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Really? Do you have experience in software development project management?

The reality is you can't make a game with the AAA scale and scope they're going for (full SP campaign with ongoing additions planned, and an extremely deep persistent multiplayer universe/multiverse) -- AND make it PC only -- without private funding, because AAA publishers will always insist on the developer making a console version and then watering the damn thing down to console garbage specs.

Its funny, people complain about PC titles being held back and watered down, and now a developer with a track record comes along and says OKAY ENOUGH LETS MAKE THIS PC ONLY, there are people complaining that "Well I dont trust it. It must be a scam cuz kickstarter LIES bro"
 
Ducman69 said:
The game started development in 2011: http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/star-citizen-preview-the-open-world-space-sim-of-our-dreams/
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not exactly. He made a demo and showed it to publishers with one other guy to show him tricks for cryengine. NOTHING in that demo is in the final game. No model, ship, anything. It was strictly a presentation video. They have completely redone from scratch the ships shown. I count it from the end date of the initial kickstarter campaign. Since this is when they ACTUALLY started the game itself.

November 19, 2012.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cig/star-citizen

so, yes, its getting closer to 2 years. which will still make this a 3 1/2 to 4 year dev cycle. (They will probably go gold in early 2016, but all the backers would have already played through the entire campaign and been hanging out in the Persistent Universe for a while)

That is not bad for an MMO, or even an FPS. Especially with the amount of custom backend code they are writing. (Network for MMO/FPS = hard, Full physics, Converting Cryengine to 64-bit precision) Add in the fact they are making a fully motion captured and voice-acted 50 mission single player campaign as well, and thats downright impressive. ( if they can pull it off in their timeframe)
 
Ducman69 said:
I think Babylon 5 was the only space show ever where space ships acted like space ships. Silent explosions that were appropriate for a vacuum w/o gravity, and the ships vector with micro thrusts and any forward propulsion had to be met with equal reverse propulsion to stop and they could coast without going full blast throttle all the time (Starfury I think it was called).

And to have gravity the spacesport even rotated.
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i loved the episode where a shadow ship chased one of the elf species super cruisers so captain whatever from babylon 5 flew into jupiter's atmosphere. it looked like inertia got the shadow ship too deep into the gravity well so it started to warp and break apart. really cool to see believable physics at work.
 
schizrade said:
They have raised 50 million dollars (!), and that thread is now 450 pages deep, yet still no game.

It almost sounds like a giant marketing ploy to sell trinkets. Citizen cards, dog tags etc. Is there an actual release date for this thing?
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No, even with a big budget development takes time. Especially in a case where the bar is trying to be raised in some way. Also, look at other huge games from companies like id, Blizzard, etc. Many of their games took years and years to finish. I've actually been mildly impressed that Roberts and Co. are moving at the pace that they are. It may be ultra-slow-time for backers chomping to get it, but in realistic development time, I think it's coming along pretty well.
 
How the hell did a stupid Colony Wars rip-off get so much backing?
 
This might get me back into gaming, the reason I started getting into computers(thanks Doom/Wolfenstein 3D).

For games like this I would expect companies like NVidia and AMD(ATI) to throw some of their money their way.
 
dandragonrage said:
Hmm. I like this. Almost enough to want to buy it - but not quite. I won't support it because of their crowdfunding method. Why do they feel they need to continue crowdfunding when they have way more than enough money to make anything they want? As some other skeptics seem to agree, I don't really trust them to deliver a product here. All I see is this company reaching into more bank accounts with nothing to show for it.
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schizrade said:
Nobody said this is a scam, but the question is a very valid one. You have 50 million in the back to develop a game, the game has no release date, and you are merchandising this shit out of it under the guise of raising more development funding.

Hell I want to play this game as much as the next person, but this is getting ridiculous. Reading the monster thread they are still calling this alpha, but with 50million in the coffers, they should hire a small army of people to kick this into high gear.
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You do not want to stop bringing in money for a game like this. sure they have enough to get V1.0 of the game out but the game will not be stopping at V1.0 essentially this game will not be done for another 12years. Since they want to have a 10 year life cycle for the project.

unlike 98% of other games being developed by EA or Activision or ubisoft development does not stop when this game comes out and staff reduced to a few lonely patch designers at most, the majority of the people working on Star Citizen now will still be working on it after release adding new content every couple weeks while also working on new mission discs like Squadron 42.

Crowd funding will be going up until release but it will never truly stop unless people stop giving them money. but then once the money runs out the project would essentially stop production on new content. no matter what we will be getting the game, that is a certainty but how long the game lives after release with new and major content updates is up to the fans because there is no monthly fee.

pledging for ships will stop post release but there will be other ways to essentially pledge more money to the project from buying limited amounts of in game credits from them directly to buying new missions discs that come out or buying vanity items. all of which purchases are completely optional and everything can be earned in game any way so you are never forced to spend money on anything. even now you only need to spend $40 to get full access to the Persistent universe, the Squadron 42 mission disc. there is NO reason to ever spend more than that on the game unless you choose to spend it to help the project long term. pretty much you are pre ordering at a discount because the game is expected to retail for $60

too many people are short sighted and see that that CiG has raised so and so money and think omg look at all that they should be done by now because if you throw enough money at something it will get done faster! which is not the case with game development if you grow too large you tend to introduce more problems.

Also i always see people complain about "pledge goals" and assume that feature creep is going to be a problem. and that just has not been the case with Star Citizen, they stopped adding features to the pledge goals a long time ago. basically each goal now is something they were already going to have in the game and they are just releasing more info on it, or something they had in their pipeline already like a new ship commercial. the ship commercial goal was just the community getting to choose the topic of the commercial that was already planned.

there is so much misconception going around for this game. people need to not think of this like a normal game because it is not a normal game where you see EA or Ubisoft release a game and almost completely abandon it once it comes out and move those devs to a new game.

CiG is here for the long haul, all the money goes to the project either for the initial launch or post release productions they will not stop improving this game content unless we stop caring about it. i mean eventually they will stop but like i said earlier they are hoping for a 10 year life to the game after it comes out, adding things like space to planet surface transitions or procedural planets to explore are just a couple examples of major things they plan to possibly do if they can find a way to make it efficient while still maintaining the fidelity they are going for, New Alien races are also planned post release too, and even playing as those alien races.
 
Xrave said:
Long live the space sim!

One thing though in the video on the Star Citizen website...why do the ships have the wingtip trails in space... :confused:
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Because they are also designed for atmospheric flight. Although atmospheric simulation isn't a feature that will make the live universe for some time.

I'm looking forward to Star Citizen like no game in recent memory. Now if they'd just open up the Arena Commander multiplayer to about 40,000 more backers, I could be doing that tonight instead of Planetside 2 :)
 
EODetroit said:
Because they are also designed for atmospheric flight.
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I don't think you understand the question.

He's not asking why they have wings, he's asking why when they turn hard they make wingtip trails.

Wingtip trails are produced by airplanes in extreme maneuvers that cause changes in atmospheric pressure that affects the moisture in the air. There's no atmospheric pressure or atmosphere to have water to cause wingtip trails.

The answer is probably just because they thought it looks cool.
 
Ducman69 said:
I don't think you understand the question.

He's not asking why they have wings, he's asking why when they turn hard they make wingtip trails.

Wingtip trails are produced by airplanes in extreme maneuvers that cause changes in atmospheric pressure that affects the moisture in the air. There's no atmospheric pressure or atmosphere to have water to cause wingtip trails.

The answer is probably just because they thought it looks cool.
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They're chemtrails, duh, don't listen to the government propaganda. No reason why they wouldn't continue to spray them in space. :p
 
And now that I've read this thread, there isn't a single criticism here that hasn't been addressed by Chris Roberts personally.

The one point I'd have to agree with is that they have enough money. The game is getting made with additional backers or without. You're absolutely safe in waiting before spending any money, you just won't get to participate in the alpha and beta steps, which are going to be a blast, and you'll also pay a bit more (assuming your time value of money isn't too high).
 
Ducman69 said:
I don't think you understand the question.

He's not asking why they have wings, he's asking why when they turn hard they make wingtip trails.

Wingtip trails are produced by airplanes in extreme maneuvers that cause changes in atmospheric pressure that affects the moisture in the air. There's no atmospheric pressure or atmosphere to have water to cause wingtip trails.

The answer is probably just because they thought it looks cool.
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Apparently you're right, I didn't understand the question. Possibly because they turn with thrusters, and thrusters work by expelling gas, and those gasses form the contrails. Or maybe its just a thing in the alpha to keep track of how the ships are moving that will be removed. Or maybe it looks cool. Haven't heard the official answer to that.
 
Ducman69 said:
The answer is probably just because they thought it looks cool.
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I would imagine that this is the case. I often wonder which would be more fun for a space game. Real space physics, or atmospheric physics applied to space combat. I can see an argument for both. For older 2D space games, I actually liked the space physics approach, where you can see the top of your ship, thrust, turn and fire backwards. Always a fun maneuver. However, in a first person, in-cockpit view, I wonder how difficult that same maneuver would be (not to mention worrying about an extra axis.) Seems like one might be doing a lot of spinning out of control. :D

Anyway, it's the same reason there are sounds in space in Star Wars. Because it's fun. This is a game, so I think the same applies.
 
As others mentioned, I'm sure the trails are for the visuals. Just as pointed out the same for sound/weapons fire and atmospheric physics while in space.

Personally I would enjoy more realistic physics, which can be applied for the sound effects. You would hear your ship fire weapons, and you would hear your ship receive weapons fire since the ship itself would allow for muffled sound to travel along the hull/frame. Same for your own ship's engines. You just wouldn't hear anything go boom in space.

However this brings up an interesting point that I think would be great if they had different physics systems for space and atmosphere (you would hear other ships' engines and explosions in atmo), but more specifically for the flight physics. It would add a new level of gameplay dynamic for online play where you have people who are better at atmo flying vs. space flying for mission selection, jobs, etc.
 
I'm not sure how they're handling this, as I haven't followed as closely as I'd like. However, they should really give you the option of the physics model you want, and work it into the game. Like some kind of thrust logic system that makes the ship handle like it's in the atmosphere (for those who want it,) or space physics for those that want it on manual while they head out to Dagobah (sp?)
 
J3RK said:
I'm not sure how they're handling this, as I haven't followed as closely as I'd like. However, they should really give you the option of the physics model you want, and work it into the game. Like some kind of thrust logic system that makes the ship handle like it's in the atmosphere (for those who want it,) or space physics for those that want it on manual while they head out to Dagobah (sp?)
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that already do.

its called G-safe mode, and coupled/decoupled mode.

i am sure they are planning to give player more options too with better flight computers ect as upgrades.

so you base ship might possibly only have g-safe mode and couple mode, but you can upgrade the ships computer to turn the g-safety off or go into decoupled mode or what ever modes they decide to add.

right now coupled mode is like atmo flight in space where the computers controls the thrust so it banks flys like an aircraft would, and g-safety prevents the ship from pulling too many g's for blackouts.

disable coupled mode and you can keep going forward and do a 180 and shoot behind you ect.

they still need to add a full 6 axis control at all times option but i think that will be coming..
 
damn i hate how you can not edit news posts i never proof read and can not edit all those typos lol
 
Darunion said:
Man, I havent used a joystick since the days of xwing and tie fighter (tears up)
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Yeah, as thinking time to break down and buy another joystick.
My Had a logitech wingman extreme; broke years ago. No idea where it is now.

But won't be buying the game unit it launches. Not fooling with an unfinished game.
 
Darunion said:
dang, I was hoping to buy this game, but since my pc performs about on par with the first xbox, I might have to upgrade a little lol.
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When I saw the picture on the page I thought, "Is someone doing a Wing Commander like game"? Read to the end and it's Chris Roberts' game :D
Wing Commander ][ brought brand new PC's to their knees. I'd totally be down for this game, but I'm sure I'll have to have much better hardware. My 4 year old PC ain't gonna cut it, but I'm not upgrading till at least late fall.
 
Total props to these developers.
I hope they, and this game, both succeed. :cool:
 
nilepez said:
Wing Commander ][ brought brand new PC's to their knees.
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I can't recall what version it was (I think WC 2), but I had the opposite experience where the game played way too fast, like the world was in fast forward, lol!

I can say though that Wing Commander Privateer was one of my most favorite games of all time for quite a while... except that alien spaceship thing at the end was so overpowered the game was basically unplayable with it. Then again, I was super gay for the show Quantum Leap back then too, which in my mind was awesome until I rewatched some episodes and had to question why Scott Bakula had such a drag fetish, and the 5 meter jumping board that used to scare the crap out of me at the pool didn't seem very high at all. :p
 
chockomonkey said:
One of those decisions to make things look/feel cool.

Evochron Mercenaries does a fantastic job at being a real space sim... and boy is it a learning curve to fly in real space!
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There's a small IQ difference, though. ;)
 
Ducman69 said:
I can't recall what version it was (I think WC 2), but I had the opposite experience where the game played way too fast, like the world was in fast forward, lol!

I can say though that Wing Commander Privateer was one of my most favorite games of all time for quite a while... except that alien spaceship thing at the end was so overpowered the game was basically unplayable with it. Then again, I was super gay for the show Quantum Leap back then too, which in my mind was awesome until I rewatched some episodes and had to question why Scott Bakula had such a drag fetish, and the 5 meter jumping board that used to scare the crap out of me at the pool didn't seem very high at all. :p
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Don't ever criticize Scott Bakula. Ever.
 
Programmer adage: "Nine pregnant women cannot make a baby in one month."

What, you thought that just because they have been able to raise this much money this fast that the code magically polishes itself and reaches a finished state?

It's not like they aren't trying... last I heard there are over 270 employees and that number has been steadily climbing.
 
For those who can't wait for SC, there's a free sci-fi MMO available: Jumpgate. This is actually an older game, that is now being offered free on a private server. Full Newtonian physics, PvP, PvE, mining, cargo hauling... everything you could want from a space sim that doesn't involve avatars.

I'm looking forward to SC, but the lack of real physics has me concerned.
 
Star Citizen has full newtonian physics, its just right now the flight computers fires its thrusters to mimic normal flight. but full newtonian is there they just have to open up the flight computer to other modes.
 
Wildace said:
that already do.

its called G-safe mode, and coupled/decoupled mode.

i am sure they are planning to give player more options too with better flight computers ect as upgrades.

so you base ship might possibly only have g-safe mode and couple mode, but you can upgrade the ships computer to turn the g-safety off or go into decoupled mode or what ever modes they decide to add.

right now coupled mode is like atmo flight in space where the computers controls the thrust so it banks flys like an aircraft would, and g-safety prevents the ship from pulling too many g's for blackouts.

disable coupled mode and you can keep going forward and do a 180 and shoot behind you ect.

they still need to add a full 6 axis control at all times option but i think that will be coming..
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Nice! I thought I had read that somewhere, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought I may have imagined (or just wished) for it. That's quite cool!
 
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